Plastic Milk Jug ?

[Jon_Beland]

Do any of you know how well suited Inventor is to making an accurate model of a Plastic Milk Jug or other complex-curved items? If Inv. is not, then do you know what other major 3D CAD pkg. is good for this type of modeling? Are there any such models out there on the user sites, I haven't found one.

[elise_moss]

It can be done, but you will need to practice. I have been working with a fellow who designs the bottles used at Gallo's winery and he is using Inventor. He creates the outlines of the bottles using splines (which become the rails) for his lofts. He tends to use surface loft and then add thickness because it is still tricky to shell out a loft, especially when it has an irregular shape.

There is actually a sample plastic jug in the Inventor samples folder...I suggest you check it out for ideas on how to create your own.

Cheers,

Elise Moss
www.mossdesigns.com